Nitty Gritty Training

While it can be argued that there is a general recipe for strength training (warm-up, main lifts, accessory lifts, supplementary work), the skill and art of putting together an effective program comes in the individualization of each element. There are infinite combinations of exercises, sets, reps, loads, and rests, and manipulating any parameter will yield different results. On this weeks episod...

Runners, OCR athletes, and hybrid athletes alike all benefit from strength training (though their programs look much different!) Putting together an effective strength program is a mix of art and science, and we aim to convince you how important it is for optimal run and OCR performance as well as teach you the components of a great routine.  In our latest episode you will:  Discover how effective...

We all go through times in our lives where there just isn't the time we once had to dedicate to ourselves and fitness. Unlike many of our other episodes, this episode is geared towards training to be fit for life not training for a specific event or race.  We hope you walk away from this one with tips and tools so you can adjust your training when time, resources, and energy just aren't on your si...

Today we are joined by Kayti Simonson, a 34 year old lawyer and pro hybrid athlete based in Calgary, Canada. Kayti has a massive sporting background - she ran 400m hurdles and played soccer in the NCAA, played semi-pro soccer in Florida, England, and Texas who impressively earned an undergrad and three post-grad degrees along the way! Kayti shares how she's dived head-first into the world of Hyrox...

On this week's episode Grit Coaching's very own Strength Coach and former Spartan Pro Faye Stenning shares 5 tips to take your OCR racing to the next level.  With a bronze medal at the Spartan World Championships and her record of the most Spartan podium finishes over the past decade, Faye has years of insight and has tested many different training approaches. This episode she goes through what sh...

You've done the work, and now it's time to put it all together! We all know that consistent training is essential for great race day performance, but races are chaotic and wrought with unknowns. An underappreciated challenge of race day is "performing on demand" , or competing at your physical capacity in an uncontrolled environment, harnessing the work you've done into great race-day performance....

Today we are joined by Lindsay Housman, founder and CEO of Hettas, a company creating running shoes optimized for female biomechanics.  The majority of athletic shoes have been designed, researched and tested on men and the Hettas fundamentally believe that design shouldn't be unisex: if you consider design from a female perspective, you'll end up with a better product for women — one that will po...

On this episode we are joined by Gwendolyn (Wendy) Bounds, an award winning journalist and author as well as a multi-time AG champ in spartan racing. Wendy is an absolute powerhouse, and we've had the pleasure of coaching her since 2019.  Wendy recently wrote a book called Not Too Late which details her journey into obstacle racing and the power of pushing limits at any age. Obstacle racer or not,...

With a ton of our listeners being avid Spartan racers we thought it was about time we had Joe De Sena on! As the founder of Spartan and endurance junkie himself, Joe De Sena joins us to talk about how Spartan was started, how it has evolved over the years including navigating the challenges covid brought, and shares some exciting news about the future of the sport (hint- Olympics! ).  Joe also sha...

City folks this one's for you!  Coach Faye spent the majority of her Spartan Race career training for some big mountain races in the middle of Manhattan so she knows a thing or two about getting mountain fit without any access to elevation.  So whether you're heading to the mountains for the last stops at the Spartan USNS or trying to nail an epic trail race with a ton of vert- you're not going to...

Grit coaching is 7 YEARS OLD this year, and we've learned a ton since Day 1. Sometimes coaches get a bit shy about admitting that they've changed their mind on something - there is a feeling that we must be all-knowing, and many coaches feel insecure saying "we're looking at something differently now". Not us! On this week's episode, Coach Jess shares how her philosophies towards run programming a...

This week we are joined by Eoin Everard, the current World and European Masters (Over 35)  3000m champion who also has a blazing sub-14 min 5km and sub-4 min mile under his belt. In addition to being an astonishing runner, but Eoin holds a PhD in Biomechanics and is a Physiotherapist and the founder of the BackAware Belt, a tool to help with back pain. In this episode we talk about injury preventi...

You've done the training, and now all that's left is executing your race. But…..how? In this episode, we give you the nitty gritty on different pacing strategies: what works, what doesn't, and why. We tackle this both through physiology and personal experience: everyone's got a good pace-related story! Proper pacing is absolutely essential for great performance. We'll convince you why on this epis...

This week we are thrilled to catch up with OCR superstar Nicole Mericle! Nicole is fresh off her 2nd place finish at Tough Mudder Arabia which was arguably one of the most competitive OCR races in history with a prize purse that did not disappoint!   We also discuss Nicole's road to recovery after knee surgery, how the short course specialist changed her training to dominate a 8 hour event and muc...

You asked, we answered.  Really nailing your endurance training can be complicated - everyone knows "how" to run, but not everyone knows how to optimize their endurance training to suit their goals and ability. This re-released podcast gave listeners the chance to ask their burning endurance questions and gave us a chance to provide insight on a bunch of endurance-related topics. It's an episode o...

We love putting together podcasts on sports performance topics we think are important but the reality is: YOU know what you know and don't know best! (whoo, that's a mouthful!)  As my school teachers always told me, if you have a question, chances are that others in the room are wondering the same thing. On this re-released episode, we answer some of the queries we get the most often. 

Winter training - it ain't so bad!  Faye and Jess, seasoned Canadian runners with souvenir frostbite scars, share their best tips on how to thrive during the winter training season. We've made all the wardrobe mistakes and created all the weather hacks so you don't have to!  This re-released episode is hosted by Jessica O'Connell, MSc, CSEP-CEP, OLY, and Faye Stenning, BKin, and coaches at Grit Co...

Endurance racing affectinatos are faced with racing options of different lengths and types galore!   In this re-released episode, we advise on how to select races and plan a season that allows for proper preparation for key goals, but still leaves wiggle room for exploration.    This episode is hosted by Jessica O'Connell, MSc, CSEP-CEP, OLY, and Faye Stenning, BKin, and coaches at  Grit Coaching...

Goals give direction and purpose to your efforts, but it's important that you don't confuse goals with dreams. Dreams are ideas, and goals are roadmaps. I think you can guess which one has a greater likelihood of success!   In this re-released episode, we discuss why goal setting is important and how to do it in an effective and meaningful way.   This episode is hosted by Jessica O'Connell, MSc, C...

Relative Energy Deficiency In Sport (RED-S), or chronic underfuelling, can have very serious health and performance consequences. We are joined by Dr. Alex Coates, former elite ITU triathlete and current professor of Exercise Physiology who's research has focused on what happens when we push too far or when we recover insufficiently from training. Alex educates us on the consequences of RED-S and...

Two new running/fitness "hybrid" competitions are sweeping the nation and attracting runners, Crossfitters, and OCR Addicts alike. Hybrid competitions involve run intervals alternated with standardized strength exercises and challenging an athlete's strength and endurance. This week, Faye Stenning shares the Nitty Gritty on the two most popular hybrid events/brands: DekaFit and Hyrox. We deep dive...

Runners: Does the weight room feel like the wild west? We get it, but strength training has serious benefits and doesn't need to be initmidating. As a runner, you're doing a serious disservice to your training regime if you're ignoring strength!  This episode, we break down why strength training is important for runners, how much you need, and what to focus on. Fast healthy runners are strong runn...

Runners fall into two camps - they're either as bendy as a slinky, or they can't touch their toes. This podcast dives into the differences between mobility and flexibility, how much range you REALLY need, and the when/where/what on stretching.  This re-released episode is sure to bend your knowledge on movement and performance (ha!) This episode is hosted by Jessica O'Connell, MSc, CSEP-CEP, OLY,...

Tis the season for peak races and the inevitable recovery that follows. Everyone's heard of the big (and oddly intimidating) "Off Season", but what IS it? This week, we dive into why the Off Season is important and how a bit of rest and recovery can take your training to the next level over the coming months. Rest to progress? We say YES! This episode is hosted by Jessica O'Connell, MSc, CSEP-CEP,...

Just like it's common to hire a coach to help you reach an sporting goal and live an active lifestyle, nutrtition coaches exist to help educate and guide individuals towards health goals. It makes sense - changing habits is hard, especially if you aren't highly educated in nutrition, so expert guidance can be SO helpful!  This week, we are joined by Josh and Brittany, two nutrition coaches at Work...